Monday, November 22, 2010

Serious energy projection includes nuclear

A reasonable report on ways to get the world energy situation CO2-free by 2050 -- a laudable goal -- includes nuclear energy in the portfolio. It is, as I would hope and expect, a combination of technologies that pulls off this impressive trick. Getting there will require substantially more gigatons of effort from the world's major economies (yes, United States, that means us, and yes, China, that means you, too).

Risø Energy Report 9: CO2-free energy can meet the world’s energy needs in 2050

Developments in non-fossil fuel energy technologies: 2010-2050

Full report (PDF style)

Based on existing plans, world nuclear capacity may therefore increase from the present 340 GWe to more than 1,000 GWe in 2050, enabling nuclear power to provide 20% of all electricity.


As noted in Nature, "States or the Union", state initiatives, exemplified by the fact that California didn't vote out their GHG emissions-cutting plan, may force more progress than the GOP climate zombies in Congress want or expect; plus, the military's green push, which has been described multiple times in recent articles, may also force societal evolution down this path.

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